Everything Michigan WR coach Ron Bellamy said during his pre-Michigan State press conference

Opening Statement

Good afternoon everyone, just wanted to, before we start, just thank everyone out there for the thoughts and prayers with Zia Combs. Michigan man, my roommate and teammate, one of my best friends, passed away last week and it was an honor to be at the service yesterday and just see a lot of the love and support that he got from the people in the Ann Arbor community and former teammates and former staff members at Michigan, it was a pretty special ceremony to honor him.

On his favorite memories of Zia Combs and bonding over his injury

He was my roommate when it happened and during his injury, October 12th, it was sophomore year, and it was tough. It was tough just to see a talented player, he came from Lexington, Kentucky and just watching him overcome the adversity of the injury and he was talented. He was passing guys up on the depth chart and we had a very talented defensive backfield with Marlon Jackson, Jeremy Lesueur, Marcus Curry, Brandon Williams, we had some guys that played in the NFL that he was competing and he was playing at the time, and just watching the game taken away from him and just his mental fortitude, just how he handled that because football is, you know, we play football from a young age and for the game to be abruptly taken away, it’s pretty tough and, you know, just to watch him grow to the man that he grew into, the father and the husband, it’s pretty special.

On the opportunity for his receivers vs. Michigan State

Yeah, the one thing we talked about was it’s a veteran group, it’s all seniors across the defensive backfield, guys played a lot of football. They’re going to come out there, they have a great scheme, they’re going to come out there, they play hard, play physical. Our guys just got to play detail, you got to play detail. You got opportunities to show up in the run game, we got to make sure we take care of business, and then in the pass game, just got to make plays, make sure you detail, top of the route, ball’s in the air, got to attack it, got to catch it, got to make plays.

On whether he experienced players tracking the rivalry as a high school coach

Yeah, 100%. And you knew it based on being in the high school, being in the building by the sweatshirts, the attire that the kids wore. You could tell there was no allegiance to a school. They wore that team’s colors, and I was there, many of my years was Coach Dantonio, and he had a lot of success, so I didn’t like it. But now, the kids, they’re going to really rep whoever’s winning. It’s a big deal in our state, state champs. You live with it for 365 days, and our kids know it, and we take pride in it.

On whether Jamar Browder still has a path to playing time

Yeah, Jamar’s been working, just getting them going, getting them ready. You know, he’s had some really good practices, and Jamar is, he’s a young man with — he’s going to be special, he’s going to be a very talented — he is a very talented football player. He backs up Donoven McCulley, and he has a great mentor in D-Mac, and D-Mac’s been showing him the way, showing him the rope,s and it’s a matter of time before Jamar starts, getting on the scene.

On what Andrew Marsh’s top trait as a receiver is

Man, he’s a fetcher, he’s a ball fetcher. The ball’s in the air, he goes and gets it. He’s detailed. For a young guy, he spends a lot of time just perfecting his craft. Whether it’s film study, whether it’s staying after practice on the jugs machine, working on footwork, he asks a lot of questions, always wants to know why are we doing this. Most importantly, when a young man has that type of mindset, he’s going to be successful, and we all knew out of coming out of high school, he was talented. It was just a matter of time before we can get him on the field.

On what it’s been like to see Marsh make spectacular catches in a group that has struggled with drops

He’s been great,  he’s been great. Just making sure he continues to chase the details, continue to work hard every day, and he has the knack for working hard. Every day he shows up, ready to work, smile on his face, he wants to get better each and every day, and it’s my job to challenge him to make sure he’s there, play with confidence, as we say. We’re just competing every day, every day is a competition.

You got to find your niche. They see outside with Andrew moving to the starting lineup and, some of the other guys are like, hey, one opportunity to play more. You got to practice well and do some things because Donoven and Andrew are playing very well, and that’s every week we’re trying to create competition.

On what the conversation is like for those who will see less of the field

Usually, if a guy is — if their role is decreasing some, they know why. You had those tough conversations and, really, it’s the film. If you’re not playing more, it’s because of the product we’re putting on film. For sure.

On where Semaj Morgan is mentally after another drop

Yeah, he’s confident. Semaj is a very confident player, and we just got to keep making sure,  when the ball finds him, he gets an opportunity, you got to make plays. You can’t worry about what the outside forces say, different things like that, you got to keep chasing the how, and that’s something that we continuously, not only tell Samaj, but everyone on the team, for that matter. If you’re struggling in an area, how can we build you up? He’s doing everything he’s supposed to in the sense of staying on the jugs machine, staying after practice, working with Bryce, he’s doing those type of things and he’s got to keep building his confidence up because he is a very confident young man.

On what Donaven McCulley has provided and whether there will be more downfield opportunities for him

Yeah, I think you look at a 6’5 receiver, you see he can jump out the gym. The play he made on the sideline against Wisconsin kind of shows his freakish athletic ability. But he’s become a more detailed, more precise route runner.

If you can recall back in high school, he was a quarterback. His first few years at his other previous school, he was a quarterback as well before he moved to receiver. So he’s learning a position and obviously been his first year here. He’s learning the offense and there’s some regards like, you develop him and treat him as a young receiver. So now, more and more each and every week, you can see the confidence building and you just put more and more on his plate.

On the impact Andrew Marsh’s role will have on recruiting

If you’re a freshman and you’re talented, you’re going to play. Like, I don’t think any position for that matter, you don’t discriminate because your guy’s a freshman. Now, it does take a little longer for freshmen to come along, you want to make sure that they can go out there and play at a high level, play with confidence, play with detail and whatnot.

And that was the case with Andrew, took us a few weeks to get him going, just to make sure he knew exactly what he was doing. And because one thing you can do is you throw a kid out there too early, and they fail or they’re not successful, they can lose confidence. So you got to make sure that the kids are developing the right way, playing with confidence, and when they go out there, they can execute at a high level.

I think from a recruiting standpoint, I definitely use that as we’re not afraid to play freshmen. That’s been the case for me since I’ve been coaching here, my first year coaching the safeties. Rod Moore played a great deal his freshman year at safety, and you look over, and Semaj and then some of the other young freshmen were playing. So we’re not afraid to play freshmen if they’re ready to play.

On how similar Semaj Morgan’s role is now compared to with West Bloomfield

I had him for his first two years before I came here. You know, his freshman year, he played JV,  wind up moving him up for the playoffs, but his sophomore year, very similar, very similar to how we use him here. dynamic with the ball in his hands. He’s a playmaker when he has an opportunity to make plays.

On whether Deakon Tonielli is a natural pass-catcher and who else stands out in the tight end room

Coach Casula has done a phenomenal job with those guys. You know, something that Coach Moore preaches a lot is football is a violent game. There’s going to be injuries and next man up mentality. I know I, for one, was proud of our coaches for making sure our guys, the next man was ready to go.

Speaking on Deakon, he’s a talented kid when we recruited him. And now he’s getting his opportunities. He’s flashing, he’s shining, and he’s showing what he could do. Deakon is going to show up in the run game and in the pass game. We feel really good about Deakon,  and Zack Marshall. He had a game of his life this past Saturday, and he’s a guy that he’s like this in practice all the time.

Zack, physical, doesn’t get tired in practice. Could take every rep if you allow him to. He plays with unmatched energy. You know, that’s what you love about Z-Marsh. I was glad to see him have the game he had in the run and in the pass game. Those guys are playing at a high level.

On adjusting to the pace of Bryce Underwood’s throws

No, the thing we just tell our guys is, first and foremost, he throws great balls. He throws catchable footballs. For us, it’s find the football,  see the football, see the football there, and see it caught, just play with detail.

I’ve played with quarterbacks, played with guys with big arms, and just catch the football. You get used to it. Whether you’re on the jugs machine, during practice, pre-practice, post-practice, whatever it is, the receiver’s job is to catch the football. I don’t see an issue with how he’s throwing the football. I think he’s throwing the ball just fine in my eyes. He’s talented. He’s giving guys opportunities to make plays. You got to make them, and it’s my job to make sure our guys are doing that. He’s throwing the ball to us, go catch it, make plays, and do some cool stuff afterwards.

On how long it took him to get acclimated to the rivalry with MSU

You know what, it took me – so my freshman year we went there and Nick Saban was the head coach. I saw some things on the field. I was like, ooh, ooh, that’s – yeah, that’s crazy.

I remember one of their players had spit on Todd Howard, and I was like, whoa, I’m from Louisiana. Like, my home state school, like LSU, doesn’t have a big rival like that, an in-state rival like that. And I learned very quickly that game that this was – this game, ooh, you got to put your big boy pants on, strap them up, ready to go. Like I said, it’s bragging rights, state champs, and they’re going to play hard. We’re going to play hard.

On talking to his players to get them ready for the rivalry

Yeah, man, just continue to chase the details. You know, play hard, be ready. This is –  obviously, every game is a big game and, Michigan State, we respect them. We respect Michigan State because we know what they’re going to bring. They’re going to be tough. They’re going to be physical. So are we.

We know that this game is circled on their calendars, much like it’s circled on our calendar every year. Everyone’s going to be tuned into it, the entire state, and we plan to have a ton of pride. Since I’ve been part of this rivalry for the past 25 years, it’s a ton of pride. It doesn’t matter who the coach is. It don’t matter who the players are. They’re going to play hard. They’re going to be physical, and they’re going to play till there’s zeros on the clock, and we have to do the same thing to be successful.

On whether McCulley’s pass was something he called for

Yeah. You know, he’s just a trick player. I just looked at him. I said, man, what a throw. Like, what a bad throw. Yeah. Just teasing him, and he laughed. You know, he laughed. He thought it was funny. It was a trick play. Something that we tried and we didn’t execute it. But he gives you that ability to do those kind of things.

On the difficulty of installing an RPO offense for receivers

I don’t think it’s difficult. I just think if it’s new, it’s just nuances that you got to iron out. I like it for receivers. It’s because now, if you want to put an extra hat in the box to stop the run, which you guys, over the years, we’ve seen a ton of that, right, guys? You know, seven, eight hats in the box trying to take away our run game. Now, you have a quarterback that’s very talented that can make those throws.

He can flash, fake, boom, get the ball out to the receivers. And as a receivers coach, any time your guys have an opportunity to make plays, you’re all for it. The addition that Coach Lindsey’s brought in has been awesome for us. You can see, we’re gelling doing it. There’s a lot of teams around the country that’s doing it, having success with it, and something that we had in our arsenal as well.

On what makes mixing in tempo right for the offense with headset communication

Yeah, I think it just helps quarterbacks, right? Just kind of see the picture, what to anticipate before it happens, and it’s a cool little tool that has been introduced to college football. Obviously, the NFL’s done it for years, and the same thing on defense, right?

I’m sure defensive coordinators are telling whoever has the green dot the same thing. You know, hey, they come out in this formation, anticipate this. So, no, I think it’s a great add for college football, and I think having a freshman quarterback,  I think that aids them as well.

On what worked with going up-tempo against Washington

Trying to get game plans? No, I think just a change of pace is great. Just gets the defense not set. The big factor in defense is communication. How well you communicate from the front end to the back end, and then when you play in tempo, at times you see guys, if you’re ever watching, you see a defense misaligned, or you see a defense not in their spots. It’s because of tempo, and I think it’s great to implement that during the game.

On Jacob Washington’s development

Yeah, so Jacob’s going to be a really good football player for us. You love him. Six-foot-three, can run, makes plays. He’s on scout team right now and just working his way up. He’s another young guy that we’re very high on. Unlike Browder and Marsh, they came in the spring, so Jacob came in during training camp.

His high school didn’t allow him to leave school early, which I told my high school coach. I went to the same high school. I had some words from my high school coach about that. But anyhow, he was a little behind in that regard, and just learning the offense, and now you can see that he has a grasp on things, and he feels confident. He’s another one of those young guys that’s just kind of plugging away, keep getting better and better every day.

On whether he threw passes in his playing career

No, I did not, but I played quarterback in the Outback Bowl in Florida in the 0-3 game. It was one of those. You guys got to go back and watch in the archives. I don’t know how I let Coach Carr convince me to do that. Anything for Michigan, right? But I had to turn my back to the defense. I think it was like a 15-yard gain, something like that. But that was my one snap at quarterback at Michigan.

On evaluating Jordan Marshall as a pass catcher and runner

Yeah, no, all those guys, man, the way they catch the ball, Jordan and all those guys, Jasper Parker and Justice, those guys are really good pass catchers. You watch Jordan pre-practice, he’s catching with the quarterbacks, with the receivers. Post-practice, you see those guys on the jugs machine.

It’s just one of those things where those guys know that they’re part of the pass game, so they got to be ready when those opportunities present themselves for the backs. He catches the ball extremely well.